Education Noticeboard 27 June 2024
Welcome to the Education Noticeboard. A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.
Included in this Edition of the Noticeboard
- Director Update
- Health Protection Hub
- School & Post-16 Travel assistance
- CPD courses to the end of summer term 2024
- New training from Nasen Golden Key
- New opportunities to support recruitment in Early Years and Education
- Number Sense Local offer
- Residents invited to Early Years Family Fun Day
- Synergy PEP System
- Primary, Secondary and Post-16 Maths
- School Uniform Project
- Happy Healthy Active Holidays Summer 2024
- SAVE the date - Skills Show
Director Update
An update from Simon Wellman
Hi all,
I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! We really shouldn’t grumble but I do expect you are having some hot days in your settings, and I know you will be trying to keep everyone as cool as possible. Included in the noticeboard this week is a key reminder about Summer Water Safety and we request that you pass the message out through your normal channels to parents as you feel is appropriate. Reminding children of the dangers of open water swimming is really important at this time and included in the message are some resources for you to consider using.
In other news:
We are excited to announce the skills show will be held on 27th March 2025. Please mark your calendar for this event and more info will follow soon.
The current CPD timetable is also listed below so please ensure to book on where possible.
Finally, we are now moving towards migration of our data systems onto a new education system. This will impact how you share information with us. The Virtual School is next to move onto the new Synergy system in the coming weeks and we have allocated specific slots for schools so we can personalise the training as much as possible. Your slot will be sent to you in a separate email together with a Teams link. Look our for further information to come.
Wishing you all a good rest of your week.
Simon
Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills
News
Health Protection Hub
Given we’re now experiencing a period of hot weather, with the subsequent risk of children and young people looking to play/cool-off/mess about in inland water, the Health Protection Hub have asked that you share the information in italics below with parents/pupils using your usual communication channels. In addition, the Royal Life Saving Society UK has a page of water safety education resources for schools which you may wish to utilise: https://www.rlss.org.uk/Pages/Category/water-safety-education
The Health Protection Hub at Telford & Wrekin Council have asked us send out some information to you on summer water safety. With the current hot weather, children, particularly older children, may look to go swimming in open water to cool down and have fun. This comes with various risks – cold water shock, currents, hidden underwater dangers and diseases such as Weil’s disease. 46% of drownings occur in the summer months and this rises to 75% amongst 13 – 17-year olds. Educating children on these dangers is important in preventing tragic incidents.
The Royal Life Saving Society and the Canal & River Trust have some good resources with more information on this to discuss with your children:
General: https://www.rlss.org.uk/Pages/Category/water-safety-information
For secondary school and primary junior-age children: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/safety-on-our-waterways/summer-water-safety
For early years and primary infants: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/safety-on-our-waterways/water-safety-tips-for-parents
Kind regards
Wayne Jones MSc
Environmental Health Officer
Health Protection Hub
HealthProtectionHub@telford.gov.uk
School & Post 16 Travel Assistance – please apply before the 30 June 2024!
Telford & Wrekin Council looks to parents and carers to make arrangements for their (child)ren and young people to travel safely to their allocated school and/or post 16 provider, where possible.
If you are unable to transport your child or young person and you meet eligibility criteria listed on the council’s website, the council can provide travel assistance.
If you are applying for your travel assistance from September 2024, all applications must be received by the council by 30 June 2024.
Applications received after this date cannot guarantee that travel training or travel assistance will be in place for the start of the new term.
When will travel arrangements be in place?
The council aims put travel arrangements in place by the start of the new term, however, they can only start making arrangements after all applications are received on 30 June. Please submit your application as soon as possible. You will receive notification of travel arrangements before the start of the new term.
If my child/young person already have travel assistance do I need to re-apply?
You will only need to re-apply in the following circumstances:
If you have moved house since you initially applied or your child is moving school, as your eligibility could have changed.
Parents/carers for children over the age of 16 must re-apply for assisted travel every academic year. If you received travel assistance for your young person in a post 16 setting this year you will be notified this by email.
How to apply:
You can submit your application NOW on the council's website and transport platform - School Travel Assistance (telford.gov.uk)
In order to submit an application, you will be required to login to your account or if you haven’t used the system before create a new account online. If you already have an email address registered with the council, please use this email when creating an account, this will help the council to link your existing travel assistance arrangements with your new account.
Once you have created an account and submitted your application, you will receive regular notifications on your application progress, you can log on at any point to see the progress. If you need support in creating a new account, please call 01952 384545 (Monday to Friday, 7.15am-5pm)
CPD
CPD courses to the end of the Summer Term 2024
Further details of these and all other courses are available in the 2023-24 CPD booklet on the Telford Education Services website and on the Ollie website.
The current CPD Booklet can be viewed via Telford Education Services.
As always, courses can be booked by completing and returning a CPD booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk (unless denoted differently)
|
Behaviour Support Intervention Training - Non-accredited (BSAT 301) |
Wednesday, July 03, 2024 |
9am to 3pm |
|
School Attendance Briefing Update (AST 004) |
Wednesday, July 03, 2024 |
4pm to 5.30pm |
|
Effective Circle Times in the EYFS (EY 302) |
Thursday, July 04, 2024 |
1.15pm to 4pm |
|
Safety Intervention Refresher Training - CPI accredited (BSAT 212) |
Thursday, July 04, 2024 |
2pm to 4.30pm |
|
Autism Leads Conference |
Friday, July 12, 2024
|
All day incl lunch |
We are currently finalising the 2024-25 CPD booklet and intend to publish early July 2024. Once published, the booklet will appear on the Telford Education Services website.
Early Years
New training from Nasen – Golden Key
Exciting news about up-and-coming training from Nasen for all Early Years settings.
The training is called ‘Golden Key’ and it is to support the key person and practitioners in understanding, developing skills and confidence when working with children who have SEND within the Early Years.
The training will be presented by Nasen using ‘Zoom’ in September 2024
There are only 150 places! Don’t miss out on this training, sign up is easy, scan the QR code on the flyer to book on.
New opportunities to support recruitment in Early Years and Education
To All Early Years and Education Settings
Following the announcement of the Apprenticeship Funding Rules for 24/25, and the new L3 EYE Apprenticeship Standard, we are now in a position to exercise more flexibility in the way we deliver the Off The Job hours (OTJH) to apprentices. This means that the learning requirement for programmes that have a front-loaded or a block release delivery model will have active learning that must be delivered at least every 3 calendar months.
We remain steadfast in our "flagship" model, whereby the full 6 hours a week of statutory OTJH is delivered offsite in college with the employer only needing to make up a small shortfall of OTJH during the college closures weeks. This is working really well and distinction results at EPA has increased. We cannot however, ignore the fact that many settings cannot facilitate being without their apprentice(s) for a full day each week, albeit term time only and so we are reaching out to the sector to see how they wish to use the new flexibility to meet the needs of their setting and the deployment of their teams to enable the OTJH to be met for their apprentice(s).
We can look at a blended approach and will bring all face to face learning to the settings providing we can work with a cohort of 10 apprentices. We would be happy to identify a suitable venue in central Telford or Madeley side of Telford, unless there was a setting who had some space conducive to effective learning. We are keen to hear from you, the sector, the best fit, should you be looking to recruit an apprentice. We will then seek to make it happen and can even support you with recruitment as we pre-assess a number of potential apprentices each month for suitability, as well as skill scanning for their English and Maths if they don’t already hold a GCSE 4 or Functional Skills L2. This helps us to ensure that they are placed appropriately onto a L2 or L3 apprenticeship and alongside their apprenticeship we can also support with enrolment onto an English and/or Maths programme.
There is a cash incentive to employers recruiting a 16-18yr old and this can go towards cover for them when they are studying with us or for any other support required by the apprentice to support them during their study. The apprenticeship wage is now £6.40 and you can count them in the ratios at the level below which they are working. For L3 apprenticeships, if the apprentice is 19yrs old when they start or turns 19 during the apprenticeship, then they move to the hourly rate for that age in their second year of study. The delivery of the apprenticeship is free, however there is a small employer contribution if your apprentice is 19yrs old when they start.
With our provision fast growing to include a forest school area, practical early years and education space for VR opportunities, along with exciting upskilling programmes for all, (both face to face and distance learning), competitively priced CPD including:
"Working with Babies", "PFA", "Child Protection" and the arrival of new partnerships with universities for HE opportunities, now is the perfect time to work with us to recruit and develop your workforce. We are an experienced team in early years and education and seek to ensure that our programmes are delivered professionally, productively and creatively.
Please email Sue Williams sue.williams@telfordcollege.ac.uk your thoughts and suggestions asap so that we can look to move forward with a cohort of apprentices from September 24.
We look forward to working with you.
Number Sense Local Offer September 2024 Cohort
Open to all EY provider types including school based nurseries, maintained nursery schools, PVIs and Childminders
Our Number Sense Programme will help young learners to acquire the skills to develop a deep understanding of number.
Through play-based counting activities, subitising and recognising patterns and relationships, children will develop a strong foundation in number that will support them to become stronger, more confident mathematicians. The programme has been designed by drawing on high-quality evidence and the expertise of the team at Ryders Hayes Stronger Practice Hub in partnership with Roy Broadfield at Impact in Learning.
PROGRAMME DELIVERY
Must attend all three core training sessions
Online Core Training Sessions:
Session 1: Wednesday 18th September 4-5.30pm
Session 2: Thursday 3rd October 4-5.30pm
Session 3: Thursday 17th October 4-5.30pm
Online Implementation Support Drop in-sessions:
Session 1: Wednesday 25th September 11.30-12.30am
Session 2: Wednesday 9th October 11.30-12.30am
Session 3: Thursday 24th October 11.30-12.30am
To sign up to attend this programme, please click the link here
Thrive Together Stronger Practice Hub West Midlands
Residents invited to Early Years Family Fun Day
Next month we will host a new event to help families understand more about the different childcare support options which are available to them.
The Early Years Family Fun Day will take place on Saturday 6 July between 11am and 4pm in Telford Town Park.
The event is at providing families with vital information on the different funding entitlements and resources which are available to them as they navigate their way through parenting. This includes:
- Childcare funding entitlements for 0–5-year-olds
- Happy Healthy Activity Holiday clubs for 5–16-year-olds
- Wrap around childcare options for 5- 11-year olds
- Family Hubs
Experts will be on hand to offer advice about the various types of childcare support for families as well as provide guidance on what they are entitled to and how to apply.
As well as being an information event, there is also plenty of family fun activities organised to keep the whole family entertained from storytelling with Sal Tongue to workshops by Telford & Wrekin Music and Lola’s Caribbean Kitchen who will be demonstrating her exquisite Caribbean cooking.
There will also be a sporting theme to the event as local provider ‘Active Future’ offer children the chance to take part in their Nerf battles and ‘Cyclone’s Football’ who will be encouraging children to improve their footballing skills whilst having fun.
Virtual School
Synergy PEP system – Introduction and Training dates
Telford & Wrekin Virtual School are moving to a new online system for PEPs. Please see below to find out about training dates.
As the summer approaches, we thank you for all your hard work this year for our Telford & Wrekin and all other young people that you work closely with, support through their education journey and care deeply for. It is such a privilege to be able to work with you and see the impact you have on those young people and their future outcomes. We appreciate all of your hard work with the PEPs with returning the attendance records on a weekly basis for our Children in Care. We are very proud of our 100% PEP completion rate and that is down to your diligence and determination to give the best to our young people in care.
As we look towards next year, our PEP system will be changing. The PEPs themselves will remain the same in structure, however the way by which they are accessed and created is having to change as we move from CRM to Synergy. Many of our Telford schools will recognise Synergy as our new education system being rolled out across the Education and Skills team. All Post 16 PEPs will remain the same using the current system.
To make this transition as easy as possible, we are going to be hosting compulsory training sessions for you to get the updated information and access details. The Virtual School team will take you through the new system and ensure that you will be able to complete your Autumn 2024 PEPs without any drift and delay.
We have allocated specific slots for each school to personalise the training as much as possible. Your slot will be sent to you in a separate email together with a Teams link.
Please try and make the slot you are allocated. If for any reason you cannot make that slot, there will be mop up sessions on 6th, 13th, 16th, 17th and 19th September. In addition, please contact the Virtual School team via virtualschool@telford.gov.uk so that we can book you onto another slot.
We would be grateful if you could respond to the email to confirm your attendance.
If you have any further questions, please drop an email to the Virtual School mailbox… virtualschool@telford.gov.uk
We look forward to seeing you in September. Have a great summer!
Other Information and Resources
Primary, Secondary and Post-16 Maths – Funded Opportunities
To raise awareness of DfE funded opportunities
Primary
Teaching for Mastery (+ £1000 funding) - based at and led by Primary Mastery Specialists at William Reynolds, Lightmoor Village and Sir Alexander Fleming Primary Schools
Sustaining Teaching for Mastery (Leading Maths)
Specialist Knowledge – Teachers
Secondary
Teaching for Mastery – full for 2024-25
Sustaining Teaching for Mastery
Supporting students to achieve a Level 2 qualification in Maths
Securing Foundations at Year 7
Post-16
Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Core Maths
School Uniform Project
TCS school uniform project is a year-round project that provide Telford children with pre-loved school uniform.
TCS school uniform project is 100% free and is available to all residents of Telford and Wrekin. It is not means tested and is run on a self-referral basis. Clothing will be mainly pre-loved (supplied and laundered).
TCS will endeavour to supply as complete a uniform as possible based on availability at the time of the request. We have stock from all schools in Telford across the primary and secondary sectors.
Referrals can be made via our website
School Uniform Project – Telford Crisis Support
As well as providing uniform we also need donations. We appreciate donation of all school uniforms including PE clothing. Clean and suitable for reuse school clothing can be dropped off at our address 9-5 Monday to Friday.
TCS, 1c Radford House, Stafford Park 7, Telford TF3 3BQ
admin@telfordcrisissupport.org.uk
Happy Healthy Active Holidays Summer 2024
An England Lioness is coming to Telford this Summer.
Your chance to meet Jess Clarke England footballer and take part in football fanatics from drills and goal shooting. Have your picture taken with a famous footballer.
Please go to https://hhah.telford.gov.uk/ to book the activities for HHAH.
22nd July – Oakengates Leisure Centre 9am – 1pm 5-11yrs 1-4:30pm 12-16yrs
23rd July – Abraham Darby Leisure Centre 9am – 1pm 5-11yrs 1-4:30pm 12-16yrs
24th July – AFC Telford 9am – 1pm 5-11yrs 1-4:30pm 12-16yrs
Eligibility Criteria:
Reception – Year 11 benefit related FSM Children
SEND Children
Referral in by schools/services for vulnerable/at risk students or families identified that may benefit from the scheme.
If there is a child/children that you feel would benefit from this scheme who doesn’t qualify for FSM but can be included as part of the 15% allocated funding for our vulnerable and deprivation areas, please provide us with their details to the holidayactivityhub@telford.gov.uk
SAVE The Date: Skills Show in on 27th March 2025
Brought to you by Telford & Wrekin Council’s Job Box team, the Telford Skills Show returns to the Telford International Centre.
We are excited to announce the skills show will be held on 27th March 2025. Please mark your calendar for this event.
Event Details:
Date: 27th March 2025
Time: TBC
Location: Telford international Centre
This event will provide an excellent opportunity to connect with industry professionals and gain valuable insight with opportunities available locally.
More details will follow soon. We look forward to your presence at this once-a-year event.